In the future our planet has been devastated by pollution. Scruffy down on his luck bounty hunter Matt Owens (a typically lively performance by Bill Paxton) kidnaps fugitive android Byron (a fine and likable performance by Bob Peck) from two police officers, who naturally give chase. While the offbeat and interesting setting has promise, alas Steven Lisberger's bland direction, Tony Kayden's wildly uneven script, the sluggish pace, the meandering narrative, the dodgy (not so) special effects, and far too much tedious and pretentious dialogue doom this one to the level of strictly diverting mediocrity. Moreover, this picture crucially lacks the snap and tension it requires to really catch fire; instead it just kind of putters around without ever picking up any steam throughout. Fortunately, the cast do their best to rise well above the lackluster material: Mark Hamill snarls it up nicely as the hard-bitten Will Tasker, Kitty Aldridge provides some much needed (and appreciated) spark as Tasker's feisty partner Belitski, and Eleanor David makes a strong and appealing impression as the sweet and radiant Ariel. The eventual friendship between Byron and Owens and Byron's romancing of Ariel deliver several pleasingly warm and charming moments. Robbie Coltrane, Ben Kingsley, and F. Murray Abraham are given precious little to do in minor parts. Frank Tidy's sumptuous cinematography boasts lots of striking aerial shots and makes the most out of the desolate rocky terrain. Elmer Bernstein's robust and rousing full-bore orchestral score hits the stirring spot. An okay time-waster.

1989—six years after the third and final chapter in the Star Wars trilogy: Harrison Ford is a Hollywood megastar, Carrie Fisher is a best-selling novelist, and even Warwick Davis is enjoying the high life, having been leading man in Ron Howard's fantasy flick Willow. Mark Hamill, on the other hand, is struggling to find anything other than minor TV roles and voice-over work since hanging up his light sabre. Could a major role in Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz's post apocalyptic sci-fi Slipstream be just the thing to revive his flagging career?Does a wookie like losing? Does C3PO enjoy space travel? Is George Lucas any good at writing dialogue?Despite Hamill's best efforts, the actor putting in a respectable performance as a ruthless bounty-hunter out to apprehend an android suspected of murder, Slipstream is a monumental stinker of a movie, one that attempts to be both popcorn entertainment and cerebral sci-fi, but which fails in both departments. Horribly flawed, charmless, and disjointed, this misjudged mess boasts soporific direction, dreadful characterisation, a rousing score that is completely incongruous to all that it accompanies, and (Hamill apart) terrible acting, with Bill Paxton giving one of the most irritating performances I have ever seen (God only knows how his career continued to thrive after this fiasco).

I was lucky to see this in the theater in Japan. The title it was given was Kaze no Wakusei, which means Planet of the Wind. This was very interesting to me because I was very interested in Dune which was titled Suna no Wakusei in Japan, which means the Planet of the Sand. Since this was also a science fiction film, I thought it was some how related just a tiny bit. So I was very excited sitting in the theater waiting for it to start, expecting an unofficial sequel to Dune. This film was nothing like Dune, instead we basically get a film where the main characters are being chased by two ruthless bounty hunters. There were many memorable scenes in this film that still swarm in my imagination, perhaps because it's like a story I would expect to read in Heavy Metal magazine. The main character is like a fast talking con man, and it made me angry to see him flirt with the female bounty hunter. Mark Hamill does a great job as the ruthless male bounty hunter and the poison dart guns and use of antidotes was brilliant. The aircraft is very memorable, the kite scene was really bizarre but cool, the scene where a whole family is in the giant hot tub scene was a bit disturbing but once again another memorable scene. I really liked the scenes where they were flying through the valleys, for some reason I kept associating this film with the Orinoco Flow song from Enya, maybe in Japan they had the trailer with that song and it fit like a glove for me. The story kind of drastically changes when they arrive to the underground society, and then it comes to a rather abrupt ending which is definitely not the normal Hollywood formula. I like that this film isn't super violent, filled with gore. Seems to have a nomadic feel to it, I think the way it does it's cinema story telling is a success, and very underrated. Because the main character isn't the toughest guy in the film, I kind of see parallels to Ralph Fiennes character in Strange Days. I have to say that I enjoyed this film more than Strange Days, which is another very interesting sci-fi film.

Slipstream is one of those underrated sci fi movies that deserves more attention.it has a very good cast;mark hammil(star wars)bill Paxton(titanic)bob peck(Jurassic park)f Murray Abraham(amadaus)and a brief appearance by the great Ben Kingsley.i seen slipstream recently and enjoyed it.i wont give away the plot but like one reviewer said it must be watched a second time to be really appreciated.its pure sci fi. and mark hammil is outstanding as the tough bounty hunter a stretch from playing Luke sky walker in the first 3 star wars films.bill Paxton plays a wise cracking cocky would be bounty hunter.slipstream is always on those cheaply priced sci fi DVD collection dvds.i found it for 5 dollars from st Clair vision called tales from the future,it also features metropolis,things to come,lost world,journey to the center of time,unknown world,day time ended,frozen alive,and in the year2889. not bad for 5 bucks too bad it contains a badly edited print of metropolis.but for 5 bucks you do get some pretty good films.i give slipstream 7 out of 10.fact;slipstream was never released theatrically in the USA.